Bowling pin



April 19, 1966 E. a. NICHOLS BOWLING PIN Filed May 14, 1962 FIG.4

BY EAW-LQMA 8W 024 M ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,246,896 BOWLINGPIN Edgar B. Nichols, 325 W. Main St., Moorestown, NJ. Filed'May 14,1962, Ser. No. 194,250

7 Claims. ,(ci. 27s-.-s2

This application relates to vbowling pins, and has for its object toprovide bowling pins which are of uniform size and weight,notwithstanding variations in the specific gravity of the wood of whichthe pins are made. i

A further object of the invention is to provide a bowling pin which ismade of several pieces of wood, which is cheaper to manufacture than thestandard one-piece pin, but which will nevertheless withstand the Wearand tear of usage without significant damage for a much longer periodthan the standard one-piece pin.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown two forms of my improved pinand also certain steps in its process of manufacture, and in the saiddrawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section of my improved pin;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the several pieces out of which thepin is made; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing a modification ofthe pin shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pin is made from four blocks 1 of rectangularcross-section and two center core pieces 2 and 3 of square crosssection.The four blocks 1 are of a length slightly greater than the height ofthe pin and are twice as Wide as they are thick. The blocks are cut fromthe log so that the grain is diagonal with respect to the side faces ofthe blocks as indicated by the lines 4 in FIG. 2.

The core piece 2 is slightly longer than the core piece 3 and these twopieces should be of exactly the same cross-section so the cores arepreferably made of one piece of the same length as the blocks and sawedinto two separate pieces of the relative lengths shown. All the pieces,both core and blocks, should have smoothly finished outer faces. Also,the corner angles should be exact right angles but it is not necessarythat the dimensions of the blocks or the core be exact to closertolerances than can be obtained with ordinary wood-working machines.

In making the pin the four blocks and the two core sectoons are weighedand as the weight of the finished pin is a known fraction of thecombined Weight of the separate pieces, it can be determined how muchgreater than the required minimum the weight of the pin will be.

To reduce the weight of the pin to the required minimum, a hole 5 isbored axially of the core piece 3 to the depth required, as indicated bya table showing the depth of hole needed for each unit of overweight.After the piece 3 is bored to the proper depth, the six pieces are gluedtogether in the arrangement shown to form a billet of the same size andshape as the solid wooden blocks from which the standard bowling pinsare made. The fabricated pieces are processed in the same manner as thesolid blocks to produce the finished pin.

My improved fabricated pin will withstand the impacts of usage withoutdamage for a much longer period than pins made from a single block ofwood wherein the grain runs in the same direction throughout the area ofthe block. In pins made from such blocks the angle of the grain of thewood to the surface of the pin varies from substantially parallel tosubstantially perpendicular. The sides of the pin where the grain of thewood is more nearly parallel to the surface are damaged much morefrequently by the impact of the balls than portions of the circumferencewhere the grain is more nearly perpendicular to the surface. When thepin is made of four sections, the blocks can be cut so that the grain at3,246,8h6 Patented Apr. 19, 1966 the middle of the ninety degree sectionis perpendicular to the surface and hence the grain at no portion of thesurface is at an angle of less than degrees to the surface.

One of the advantages of my improved pin is that variations in thethickness and width of the several blocks do not affect the strength ofthe glued joint or in any way affect the procedure of making pins ofuniform size and weight. In assembling the blocks to make the billet,glue is applied to two opposite faces of the aligned blocks 2. Two ofthe blocks 1 are then placed in position against the glued surfaces ofthe blocks with one edge of each block 1 aligned with one of the ungluedsurfaces, respectively, of the blocks 2 Pressure is then applied to theexposed faces of the blocks 1 along the side adjacent the blocks 2 andmaintained until the glue is set. Glue is then applied to one edge andone side of each of the two remaining blocks 1 and these blocks are as,sembled with the Z-shaped assembly resulting from the first operation.Pressure is then applied to the exposed longitudinal corners of the twoadded blocks 1 and maintained until the glue is set. By this method ofassembly, strong glued seams will be obtained regardless of variationsin the dimensions of the several blocks.

My improved fabricated pin is particularly useful when used inconjunction with the nylon band and coating disclosed in my pendingapplication Serial No. 608,036, filed September 5, 1956, and in FIG. 4 Ihave shown a pin so constructed. As here shown, the pin formed as abovedescribed and shown in FIG. 1, is provided with a wide shallow groove 10around its rnidportion and a molded nylon band 11 is sealed in thegroove. As described in said application, the bottom of the groove islongitudinally convex when out and then flattened to a cylindricalcontour by hammering. The shoulder 12 at the upper edge of the groove issomewhat higher than the shoulder 13 at the lower edge of the groove andthe band 11 is applied by heating the band sufficiently for it tostretch over the shoulder 13 when the band is pushed upwardly over thepin and contract into the groove. Before the band is applied the bottomand ends of the groove are coated with cement consisting of a solutionof nylon in methanol. After the band is applied, the entire surface ofthe pin is coated with a film of nylon applied as described in saidapplication by repeatedly dipping the pin in a nylon-methanol solution,preferably containing a small percentage of phenol.

One of the advantages of the fabricated pin over the solid pin is thatthe grain of the wood is at an angle to thesurface of the pin throughoutits entire area. This advantage is to some extent offset by the presenceof the glued seams in the impact zone of the pin. If, however, thisportion of the pin is enclosed in the band, the impact of the ballcannot be centered on the glued seam and the likelihood of failure ofthe seams in the band pin is virtually nil.

The fabricated pin can be made cheaper than the solid pins ofsubstantially uniform weight for the reason that the specific gravity ofwood suitable otherwise for bowling pins varies substantially. Pins ofthe same size of the same kind of wood'seasoned hard maplemay varyseveral ounces in weight and the cost of selecting pieces ofsubstantially uniform specific gravity is greater than the cost offabricating billets of uniform weight.

The center blocks may be of a size either greater or smaller than thediameter of the neck portion of the pin and may also be made ofdifferent kinds of wood.

I claim:

1. A bowling pin consisting of a plurality of wooden blocks cementedtogether and wherein one of the blocks is of square cross section,extends axially of the pin from 1 3 one end to a point adjacent themid-length of the pin and has at its inner end a cylindrical cavitysymmetrical with the axis of the pin.

2. The pin of claim 1 wherein the contacting faces of the blocks lie inplanes parallel with the axis of the pin.

3. The pin of claim 2 wherein the grain of the blocks forming theexposed surface of the body portion of the pin is throughout saidsurface at an angle to said surface not substantially more than 45.

4. The pin of claim 2 wherein the blocks' forming the surface of thebody portion of the pin are four in number with the grain of the wood ineach block at the middle of its circumferential dimension atsubstantially 90 to said surface.

5. A bowling pin consisting of wood blocks cemented together, saidblocks comprising a central core of square cross section extending fromend to end of the pin and symmetrical with the axis of the pin, and fourblocks mented respectively to the faces of said core, with the narrowfaces of the blocks co-extensive with the adjacent face of said core andcemented to the contacting face of the adjacent block.

6. The bowling pin of claim 5 wherein the core has an axially extendingcavity near the mid length of the pin.

7. The pin of claim 5 provided with a band of molded plastic around itsmidportion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,214,126 1/1917Boldt 27382 2,517,116 8/1950 Klinger 27382 2,629,596 2/ 1953 Luedtke27382 2,729,450 1/ 1956 Clapham 273-82 2,775,456 12/1956 Schroeder eta1. 27382 2,878,021 3/1959 Lippert 273-82 each having two fiat faces atright angles to each other 20 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

and extending axially of the pin, one of said faces being wider than theother by a distance equal to the width of said core, the Wide faces ofsaid four blocks being ce- DELBERT B. LOWE, Examiner.

G. L. PRICE, Assistant Examiner.

1. A BOWLING PIN CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF WOODEN BLOCKS CEMENTEDTOGETHER AND WHEREIN ONE OF THE BLOCKS IS OF SQUARE CROSS SECTION,EXTENDS AXIALLY OF THE PIN FROM ONE END TO A POINT ADJACENT THEMID-LENGTH OF THE PIN AND HAS AT ITS INNER END A CYLINDRICAL CAVITYSYMMETRICAL WITH THE AXIS OF THE PIN.